Written question asked by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 13 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 November 2008. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has his Department has made of the level of primary care trust spending on services to reduce alcohol harm.

Answer: Data on national health service spend on alcohol interventions is not collected, however, in 2005 the Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project reported that the NHS in England, in 2003-04, spent an estimated £217 million on alcohol interventions. An extra £15 million in additional funding has been included within primary care trusts (PCTs) general allocations from 2007-08 to improve alcohol interventions.Additionally, the National Audit Office have carried out an audit of NHS spend on alcohol interventions. Their report, ““Reducing Alcohol Harm: health services in England for alcohol misuse””, was published in November 2008 and found, that where primary care trust expenditure on alcohol services was known, an average of £600,000 was spent on commissioning alcohol services in 2006-07. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

Secondary information